Fight only for something that I love
by random-k
Summary: Magna's perspective on the events of "Lion of the mysterious woods"


"And I can fight only for something that I love, love only what I respect, and respect only what I at least know."

* * *

_I own nothing but my own ideas_

_Anonymous Review. I don't know if you will read this, but I don't have another way to contact you. You didn't review with an account, So I can not PM, you or contact you back. You had a point, that it could use some editing. To be honest, you could have been politer in your wording and tone. You should work on that when critiquing. Anyway I ran it through paper checker, and reworked it a bit. You should consider getting an account, you could be a Beta for those who ask for it, or write some stories about Leopold. Or write about other characters you like, more stories would be awesome._

* * *

At first, he hadn't felt anything beyond annoyance, at this whole situation. Sure, he had been satisfied at the beginning for successfully casting the spell he had reverse engineered, but the Fairy Queen had made him quickly regret it. Now Magna has to waste valuable time, when he should be learning things, that his master should be teaching him. Does she really think he decided to figure out a difficult spell like that solely for the fun of it! He wanted to impress her! And really, he's been bored while she has spent all her time in calculations, thinking of the fairy. Now he has to waste his time to travel the world, searching for an answer. Or else the Fairy is going to make him pay a price, one that he is all too eager not to learn the cost of.

And it's not even with some decent company. Its with this selflessly naive fool, who wanted to be stronger for the sake of pleasing his father. Who went looking for his teacher for possibly the stupidest reason. Becoming better at the sword. Hah! An enchanted blade would have probably improved his technique. Or, even more obviously, practice! There's no need to travel across several mountains.

Really. If anything the Lion should be thanking him for the lesson. Don't bother a busy mage, they have better things to do than deal with your problems!

Honestly, he had thought that this saying was common sense. It should be obvious even to a sword idiot. Perhaps this one was just denser than most.

* * *

Spending time traveling with the Lion, meant he grew on him. Sort of. He was useful, particularly as a wind and heat buffer when traveling over mountains. Or through the snow. And it was funny to see his face whenever he got something tangled in his fur, particularly burrs.

He certainly had to work a lot on controlling his temper. The Lion helped a lot with that, stepping in the way whenever the urge to set something on fire in frustration came up. Because hurting the Lion, would upset the Fairy Queen, and Magna had not enjoyed his experience with upsetting the Fairy Queen.

It was not a pleasant experience.

Since they were traveling together, the lion insisted teaching him something he had no desire to learn more about. How to fight with his staff offensively as well as defensively.

The Lion would tap a stick annoyingly on a rock every day after dinner, until he looked up from the book he was trying to study.

Then once the Lion finally had his attention, he would politely ask for a spar. No matter how many times he stormed off, the stupid Lion persisted in asking politely.

That was, perhaps the most annoying part about it. It was never anything other than a polite request, one that was just annoyingly persistent. Finally he took him up on the offer, just to get him to stop asking, and the spar hadn't even lasted two minutes before he was disarmed.

Then the lion had the audacity to start correcting his staff forms, complete with a demonstration something that sent him storming off in a huff. Frankly, it was irritating.

The whole thing was stupid. The lion had more muscle than him, it was obvious he would win. Magna didn't even like using the staff as a weapon,when it was his magic that would bring him victory in battle.

* * *

The creepy elf changed his interest in the staff. An elf, carrying around an unusually large cooking knife, just waltzing around in the forest, was not a normal thing, no matter how many times the dumb Lion told him to stop being so negative. His optimism was annoying, and dangerous. The elf seemed to have an interest in ingredients, and no qualms about where they came from.

That Lion's optimism had lead to an elf wielding a giant knife chasing them through the forest.

Now the elf had them cornered, and exhausted. Magna it felt as though there was a limitless amount of magic flowing out of his body. Which of course there was! He planned to be a great mage someday!

"Creatures with magical potential always taste good."

What!?

The elf just kept talking about magic as a flavor component. Magna wanted to say something, anything, but his throat was dry of worlds. It felt as though someone had cast silence on him. That was a terrible thing for a mage. His fear was so great, that he could not think of even a single spell to cast, which was terrifying.

His staff trembled in his hands. If it came to a physical fight, he wouldn't last long. Not against that gigantic knife.

"D-don't eat me!" He managed to stutter out, heart pounding in his chest.

Then, the lion stepped in front of him.

What in the world was he doing!

"I'm not a real lion, and I'm infused with magic all over. I-I think I might actually taste good!"

No. This was not happening.

Leopold… was sacrificing himself… for him?

Magna, the person who had turned him into a lion in the first place!

Why would he do that? What kind of person just does that!

"I've never tried something like that before…"

A selfless one. The kind of person who Magna had no time for, because they were always doing something stupid on other people's behalf.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try. Ok, Lion, come with me." He put away his knife. "I need the proper cooking utensils from my house for this."

This should be the moment to run. Leopold actually went to follow the guy, but stopped halfway.

"Magna, while I really do think you should fix your negative way of talking… I'm confident you can achieve your dream of becoming a great mage. Thanks for everything"

The elf came back, and this time Leopold followed him.

* * *

For awhile Magna sat there in shock and exhaustion.

He didn't need Leopold of all people telling him, that he was going to be a great mage! What on earth was all that about anyways? It had almost sounded like a goodbye! He had no intentions of dying in this stupid forest!

And who was Leopold to tell him to fix his negativity, when it was his optimism that had lead to the creepy elf traveling with them in the first place!

The nerve of him! Honestly! Why was he even bothering to save the idiot!

Well really, since when was Magna ever one to pass up a challenge! That's why he had transformed Leopold into a lion in the first place. Thats why he had stuck with this stupid quest. Giving up would hurt his reputation down the line. And really, HE was not going to let some Elven creep EAT his project! He would set this entire forest on fire first!

Stupid cat.

Protecting Magna, even though he's weaker what he needs is to be boiled alive, to learn some common who does he think he is!

Magna casts another thundaja, still stewing.

Stupid creepy elf. Stupid cat. Stupid fairy, making him keep this promise. Everyone he knows is unreasonable!

A monster who had survived his electrical onslaught, ran at him. He fumbled with staff and failed to block, earning a cut, and a nasty bruise for his troubles.

Leopold had tried to teach him to use his staff better, and he hasn't seen the sense. Which was stupid, as there were always monsters, and he couldn't always dodge behind the lion! Leopold wouldn't be here forever. Because he was going to change him back, and then he would leave, and could no longer use Leopold as a barrier.

Fine, it probably wouldn't kill him to take staff lessons from the stupid cat. Hopefully, it would mean, less potions used in the future. Those things tasted terrible. And really, the cat wasn't the worst traveling companion out there. Certainly listened to him more often than most people in the forest.

A single house. A delicious smell. A terrible feeling settles in Magna's stomach.

He hadn't deserved to be eaten! He hadn't even really deserved to be a lion in the first place!

This was all his fault! He had ruined Leopold's life. If the cat had gone back home, people wouldn't have believed him! Maybe even shunned him! And Magna had let him give up his life to be eaten! Magna was even, fretting outside the house like a coward, while the man was possibly being baked!

What a stupid waste of time!

He opened the door.

"Hey you glutinous degenerate of an elf! Don't you dare eat Leopold!"

He had a half mad Idea, to offer himself in exchange for Leopold. It would have only been fair. After all, Magna was the pathetic excuse for a mage who had turned the guy into a Lion. He could at least do something to let the guy enjoy his life as a lion, as some penance for turning him into a lion in the first place…

But it didn't matter.

Leopold, was sitting at the table, and not as a roast.

He had been eating! He had been munching down on food while Magna had been running through the forest. Magna had been burning through mana to get here, and worrying that Leopold had been eaten. He had thought the stupid cat had been about to die for him, to sate a gluttonous elf's appetite for flesh. While Magna had been doing that, Leopold was sitting here eating a feast!

It was hard not to get angry.

Apparently, according to Leopold's optimistic viewpoint, the elf had been trying to help him. Somehow it was all a big misunderstanding.

Magna wasn't so sure, but he had used a lot of energy running through the forest all day. He was tired and this way he could watch the elf. Just in case Leopold was wrong, then they could make a getaway without splitting up.

Magna really doubted that food, no matter how well prepared, could break the spell on Leopold. The elf clearly didn't know much about magic.

Still, there was something about this food… well, it might do something. Plenty of other traditional methods had failed. Perhaps something unconventional might be the key.

At least the food was good, even if the ingredients were weird. To Leopold, anyways. Frankly, Magna had eaten stranger things in his life,

* * *

The food didn't change Leopold back into a man, but there was the potential for something in hadn't considered cooking as a magic before, or not in depth anyway. Perhaps there was something to be said for it. The elf might have been on to something...

He would need to investigate.

_**"Magna, you may be a powerful mage, but"**_

Had the elf really reached this level of innovation through self study?

Cooking wasn't even studied as a magical field! This was the first he had heard of it!

And yet… could it be the key?

**_"...you should also be more respectful of the people around you."_**

He would need to learn the ingredients. To do this correctly, he would need to learn to cook. It might be possible to use his knowledge and magical energy to complete a counter-spell!

**_"The day will come when you'll need help from another person, and…"_**

To do that… he would need the elf.

Respect…

It was a hard and bitter pill to swallow, to be putting the success of his project, in the hands of a weird hermit elf chef.

Respect the weird guy, for what? The quality of his food?

Fine! He could do that.

Leopold deserved to be a man again, someday.

Teachers came with all sorts of eccentric quirks. He should know, his teacher has her share of them. Still, the chef knife was its own category in eccentric.

Really.

That knife should not seem so sinister. Yet it was. Magna tried not to dwell on it.

He went into the house, mentally preparing to be respectful.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

He waits for the elf to say something. Forelsket, does not answer, waiting for his question. Silently staring at him. Its unnerving.

Magna frowns. An indication of where he stood with the elf, would have been helpful.

* * *

In time Magna finds things that he respects about his teacher.

He has learned a lot here.

He has learned about monster anatomy, and about the types of knives. He has learned how different spices play off of each other in both flavor and magic.

He's not even allowed to think of creating any meals, until he has memorized what Forelsket considered basics. The lessons are not things he had considered the basics of cooking. Magna had never considered them when he and Leopold had been wandering around the world, searching for a counter-spell.

Leopold, does take an interest, but mostly, he practices his sword forms, eats, and fights monsters with Forelsket. Every night, he takes Magna out for staff drills, that end in a spar.

He's sore, and tired, and learning all kinds of things about monster anatomy. It's not what he came here to learn, but it will be very useful in the future.

And, despite everything, he's happy. He's getting faster to identify the monster parts, faster to block the strikes with his staff, and actually spending time getting to know Leopold, rather than just traveling with him. And Leopold has a lot of stories to tell. While being turned into a Lion may be the strangest thing that has happened to him yet, he has not lived a boring life.

It's strange to think, Leopold was once Human, after all this time Magna has known him as a Lion. Stranger to think he has been the cause of it, and that one day, he will undo the spell, and everything will go back the way it should. That maybe one day, this journey will be a story that Leopold will one day tell someone else.

He wonders who it will be. He hopes, he gets to meet them, he hopes that Leopold will come to visit him sometime in the future, after he has been turned back into a man.

But that is a bridge that will not be crossed for some waters yet. Right now he has to find a cure, before the future that he wonders about, will show up on the horizon.

There is no time like the present.

* * *

Excitement runs under his skin, as they step into the woods today. After months of training, he has finally been deemed ready to make his first attempt at the dish with the purple Bavarois.

Leopold agrees his cooking has much improved, and seems to enjoy trying out his variations on Forelsket's dishes. Magna has been excitedly creating variations in flavor and Magic. He was first cleared for it a month ago, and has had fun experimenting with results. Some outcomes have been… less than spectacular, but he has a much clearer idea of what he is doing now.

"You remember that dish made with purple Bavarois? I'm going to go and look for the ingredients."

"Did you like that Magna?" He asks lightly, but he is excited too.

"That's not the point!" He almost squeaks, but he knows the Lion is teasing. Doesn't mean he often appreciates it. Maybe if it is directed towards Forelsket, but the elf often misses the point, or deliberately ignores it, and so is not much fun to tease.

"Watching the preparations may help me finish my dispel magic."

It is also delicious. After watching, he fully intends to prepare one of his own. They will need to find double the amount of monsters today.

"Really! That would be amazing!"

Will Leopold be untouched by time, under the spell? Or will his hair be crookedly cut, his eyes have shadows, and his muscles solid, like Magna's are becoming? Magna does not look like the boy he was when left the forest. He is curious to see if Leopold will look like the man who entered it.

He has never quite done a spell like this before, particularly over such a long period of time. Maybe one day, it will be one of his specialties. That would make him stand out from other mages.

They fight together for awhile, until he finds the words to ask a question that he has been wondering about for awhile.

"Um, you know that time when you protected me…?"

It does not come out quite as smoothly as he hoped, and his cheeks burn a bit, at the hesitation in his voice. Leopold is not even looking at him, and misses it. Magna blurts out his next question.

"What were you planning to do? I don't need someone weak covering for me!"

His entire face burns red, and he covers his face with his hands. He had not been intending to say that, it sounds so defensive and insecure. Gods he is bad at this, Leopold was right, Magna does need to work on his negative attitude.

"Ah, your right. That was my bad. Sorry"

No! He already puts the Lion down enough, he does not need the man doing this to himself! The people back at Leopold's home, may find an easy enough time doing it. The last thing the cat needs is to encourage the process.

Magna did not even get an answer from that! He has no idea how to bring it up again, without saying something stupid.

"I wasn't looking for an apology" he manages to say, and then the monsters are upon them, and there is no more time for chit-chat.

"The dishes Forelsket made were all delicious. It's a shame we were the only ones to savor them. " Leopold starts up awkwardly.

"Do you wish to introduce him to someone you know?" Magna asks, partly in jest.

"Ah… now that you mention it...?"

Part of him wants to demand who in the world he would want to introduce Forelsket to. Magna keeps quiet. No need to make a mess of things, yet again.

Why is he feeling so weird about all this anyways? Is this what respect does? Makes you feel weird about downplaying everyone else? If so, he is not fond of it so far. Maybe it will grow less strange in time, as Leopold and Forelsket did. Friends are a bit like mushrooms, as Forelsket said once. They grow on you.

He hasn't seen any on his body, but maybe they grow on organs. Maybe they are in his brain. He is going to run out of room for mushrooms in his brain, if they keep popping up like this. It will get all cramped, and no new knowledge will be able to grow.

How does one cultivate organ mushrooms? That will have to be his next project, after he dispels Leopold.

"There's no way I'd lose to a cook, so long as I know what makes the meat special! I'll get you cured, no matter what, just you watch!"

It's meant to be a reassurance, a boast to cheer him up, as much as it a promise. This time, it's a promise he means every word of. The cat believes him, as much as he always has. And it's kind of nice, today, that he has so much belief in Magna.

He can feel the possibilities in the air.

* * *

The dish is as perfect as he can make it, theoretically, and taste-wise.

It should work. Leopold is counting on him. He casts the spell, and feels his heart flutter in his chest. Anticipating.

But when the smoke clears, the man is still a lion.

Well Lion- Man Hybrid. Eh, schematics. He is still a lion.

It was not the dish. It was not the spell.

"Something else must have gone wrong, huh"

Magna does not want to say it out loud, but he knows in his heart of hearts, it was him.

"The counter-spell is too complex for me right now." His heart is sinking to the bottom of his chest.

"I'm still an amateur mage. I need to accumulate more training… before I can fully wield this spell." It kills a part of him to admit this, that he is not good enough. Leopold, deserves his honesty. It is his fault, the man is a lion in the first place.

"Leopold. I'm sorry" he apologizes at last. It's something he should have done a long time ago.

And Leopold does something he doesn't deserve, not after he turned the man into a lion, on essentially a whim. Leopold still has faith in him.

"Even if you can't do it now, your going to become a great mage someday, right? I'll wait, so take your time."

"Why aren't you more angry..." He asks, trying not to show how thrown he is by this. Most people would be infuriated by this. Why was he so accepting of everything that happened to him?

"How long do you think that's going to take?" Magna almost shouts. "You can't turn back into a human until then!"

"It was my fault for trying to solve my problems with magic in the first place, after all"

No it was Magna's fault, for messing around with a spell that showed no counter spell.

"I'm very grateful that you have done so much for me already."

But it Magna's fault in the first place. Magna is the only one who can undo it, and he's just not ready yet. Anything Leopold might have done, has been more than made up for by now, so why is this man thanking him.

Leopold still makes no more sense than he did, the day he met him, sometimes.

He laughs "You're such a nice guy."

He tells him, in place of something else he would have said a month ago. They both laugh at that.

Magna hadn't really thought of what he would do if his spell and his meal didn't work. He's glad Leopold has forgiven him for it, but not everyone may have.

The happiness and relief he feels is abruptly and thoroughly driven away, by the appearance of the Queen of Fairies.

* * *

He steps in front of Leopold, as if to shield him, like Lepold had once shielded him from Forelsket. Or hidden him. He never asked..

Magna doesn't know what exactly is going to happen, but he knows the Queen. He knows her well enough, that he can safely say, her moods are unpredictable. It starts well, but it doesn't last, when she asks to see Leopold's true face.

"Leopold is still a Lion?"

She's quiet. That's rarely a good sign.

"It's alright. I'm ok with this?" Leopold announces, and Magna could smack him.

Leopold is a fool. That is the last thing she wants to hear.

He tries the truth "I-I can't do it yet, but someday in the future…"

"You've broken your promise twice now." She announces.

Her voice is very quiet. Oh no. That's never a good sign.

"That's absolutely inexcusable"

Magic practically radiates from her skin. He hasn't seen her like this since the last time she fought his teacher! She wasn't nearly as angry as she is now. He's starting to wonder if he will survive today.

She's talking about the importance of keeping promises, and throwing magic everywhere.

It's going to hurt. So bad.

It hurts, but he holds up against it better than he ever had in the past.

She says something about adventures, and reflecting on mistakes, but he is having trouble hearing it, over the increase in magic radiating off of her. Somehow it's even worse than last time. Her words are both terrifying and patronizing.

He's improved. It's not enough.

"Stop this" Leopold pleads. He insists Magna hasn't broken the promise, but he has. He may very well die here, and be unable to keep it.

"Even though it's my problem… Even though I already said its fine…"

And what is he doing!

Leopold steps in front of Magna, holding out his sword at the Queen of Fairies.

"Will you just listen to me already!"

Interrupting the Fairy Queen is not going to improve her temper!

He holds out a hand to pull Magna up.

"Have I become stronger?"

He may have just found a suitable reason to fight at his strength. It always seems to be the stupidly noble types that fight their best when protecting.

"Save the pat on the back for later, and get ready for battle." Magna advises him. They can save this argument for later.

"I'm fighting too."

Of course.

The second battle passes in a bit of a blur to him. He doesn't remember what he said, or cast. Long familiarity with each other serve Magna and Leopold well in this battle. They move with each other, instead of getting in the way, as they first had when they left the forest. His arms and body are stronger now, more used to the movement and strain of prolonged battle.

It's still not enough.

He has grown since leaving the forest. Now if only he could live, and have ample time to appreciate that.

" I...will become a great mage." He declares lying sprawled on the ground in exhaustion. "My master said so...My masters rival even said so…"

He stands up and gets ready to fight for his life. And Leopold's.

"This is not where I will go down!"

He's not sure how it came to this. But he has no intention of failing here. Then, his master interrupts.

She says something complimentary to him, and completely forgets Leopold's name, which annoys him. After all, she started all of this in the first place, by turning the guy into a frog. The least she could do is remember his name.

"Thank you for tenderizing Elephim for me."

That throws him in a loop. Had she really been expecting him to fail the whole time? Had she used this whole promise thing to goad the Fairy Queen, and get into a fight?

Unfortunately, that sounded just like her type of plan.

"Leave the rest to me. I've always wanted to try this." she tells him, so he does. He needs a moment or ten to catch his breath after that. The both of them enjoy their battles far too much in his opinion. He still hopes that one day, he can stand against the Fairy Queen like she does.

He wishes he were in better shape to take note of the battle. Maybe tomorrow, after he's had some sleep. It wouldn't be the first time they fought for days, after all. Perhaps they should take the interruption for the distraction that it is, and leave.

"Let's get something to eat"

* * *

The clash lasted for over three days. Magna and Leopold camped in the woods, and debated leaving. They decided against it in the end. Neither of them wanted the fairy Queen to remember the original source of her anger, and come to try to smite him again.

They spent a lot of time talking. Some of it frivolous, some of it more practical. It really didn't matter. It was an attempt at normality in a time of uncertainty.

"I finally understand." Magna declared in the eerie silence after a particularly loud blast of magic."It will be a hundred years or more before I'm close to that level. I've learned my lesson."

"But even then, your still pretty amazing, Magna. And thanks to you, I've gotten even stronger than I could have imagined. You've made my dream come true."

What!

Was the man seriously thanking Magna for turning him into a Lion- Man hybrid! Why? In what world did he live in, where being stuck in a forum not his own, was a good thing! What did that have to do with… anything? All this time, and Magna still does not understand just what logic Leopold runs on.

"I was able to become stronger, just like I wanted to" Leopold attempts to explain.

"It's the path I chose. That's why I'm happy with the way I am."

The logic that powers self sacrificing idiots, clearly. The crazy kind.

"Hmm my father will be horrified, but… If I explain myself, surely he'll understand."

Magna should probably go with him to explain to his father. Sure, it might go terribly. Probably will go badly, to be honest. But it could not be worse than finding out what the Fairy Queen intends to do to him, once she's done with the battle.

"Don't worry about me, Magna. Keep up your training, and-"

Wait, was he under the impression that he was going to QUIT!

"Glad we're finally on the same page. I'll keep on training, no matter what anyone says."

"Of course!"

Magna reassures Leopold. Perhaps Leopold has said something, that he had missed. No matter.

"And I'll find a way to cure you at the same time."

"That's my Magna!"

His WHAT now!

But the infuriating man did not stick around to give Magna an explanation for that. Just left him there in the forest, with the magical duel still disrupting the environment. He wasn't sure how long the fight would distract the Fairy Queen, after it ended.

Rather than trying to figure out What crazy world Leopold lives in, he should decide what he is going to do now. Leave. Definitely leave.

Where to go.

Perhaps he should stay away from the forest, for a bit. Maybe visit Forelsket. And check on the village Leopold comes from, and make sure they didn't kill him. Discreetly. He probably should explain to Leopold's father, why his son was now a lion. He should, but that didn't mean he wouldn't choose to avoid it entirely, if he isn't being asked to explain.

Magna is not an idiot! He will avoid that confrontation forever if he can. Or at the very least, give the man some time to calm down.

Hopefully, now that his master was having her long awaited battle, she would have more time to spend teaching him. And less time to spend turning people into frogs. Someday, he is going to become the greatest mage ever. How could he be anything else? He has potential, drive, and the best teachers to learn from.

There's no way he can fail, with those odds!

But that was the future. For now, he was going to get out of the blast radius, and find somewhere safe to study.

* * *

_"Pennies do not come from heaven_

_They have to be earned here on earth."_

_The original title of this story was this quote, by Margret Thatcher, but I decided the other one above worked better._


End file.
